Tymoshenko Bloc Criticizes Cabinet Over Gas Talks

Yuliya Tymoshenko (file photo) (RFE/RL) 15 December 2005 -- The party led by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has denounced the government of her successor for so far failing to secure an agreement on Russian natural gas deliveries next year.
The Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc party said in a statement that the government of Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov should resign if it fails to secure an agreement with Russia's state-controlled Gazprom company by the end of the year.


On 13 December, Gazprom said it could stop supplying gas to Ukraine if no agreement is reached by the end of the year.


President Viktor Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko, a former Orange Revolution ally, in September complaining of her economic policies. Since then, she has emerged as a strong political competitor ahead of parliamentary elections next March.


(Interfax/"Ukrayinska pravda")

Interview

Interview


Celeste Wallander directs the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a CSIS senior fellow. Before joining CSIS, she was senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., and associate professor of government at Harvard University. She is the founder and executive director of the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security. Her recent projects include work on U.S.-Russian security cooperation, the history of Russia and globalization, HIV/AIDS in Russia, and the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. Among her books are "Swords And Sustenance: The Economics Of Security In Belarus And Ukraine" and "Mortal Friends, Best Enemies: German-Russian Cooperation After The Cold War." She is currently writing "Global Russia: Economics, Politics, And Security."

On November 29, 2005, she spoke with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service about Russia's energy policies and how Moscow might be seeking to leverage its influence over its neighbors. Listen to the complete interview.
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To read a transcript of the interview,click here.

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